View source for Domain-specific language

A '''domain-specific language''' ('''DSL''') is a [[computer language]] specialized to a particular application domain.

This is in contrast to a [[general-purpose language]] (GPL), which is broadly applicable across domains. 

== Description ==

There are a wide variety of DSLs, ranging from widely used languages for common domains, such as [[HTML]] for [[Web page|web pages]], down to languages used by only one or a few pieces of software, such as Emacs Lisp for GNU Emacs and XEmacs.

DSLs can be further subdivided by the kind of language, and include domain-specific markup languages, domain-specific modeling languages (more generally, specification languages), and domain-specific programming languages.

Special-purpose computer languages have always existed in the computer age, but the term "domain-specific language" has become more popular due to the rise of [[domain-specific modeling]].

Simpler DSLs, particularly ones used by a single application, are sometimes informally called mini-languages.

The line between general-purpose languages and domain-specific languages is not always sharp, as a language may have specialized features for a particular domain but be applicable more broadly, or conversely may in principle be capable of broad application but in practice used primarily for a specific domain.

For example, Perl was originally developed as a text-processing and glue language, for the same domain as AWK and shell scripts, but was mostly used as a general-purpose programming language later on.

By contrast, PostScript is a Turing complete language, and in principle can be used for any task, but in practice is narrowly used as a page description language.

== See also ==

* [[Architecture description language]]
* [[Cognitive dimensions of notations]]
* [[Combinator library]]
* [[Domain analysis]]
* [[Domain-specific entertainment language]]
* [[Domain-specific modeling]]
* [[Domain-specific multimodeling]]
* [[Configuration file]]
* [[Fluent interface]]
* [[Metacompiler]]
* [[Metalinguistic abstraction]]
* [[Metamodeling]]
* [[Model-driven engineering]]
* [[Multi-paradigm programming language]]
* [[Programming domain]]
* [[Programming paradigm]]
* [[Specification and Description Language]]
* [[Probabilistic programming language]] (PPL)

== External links ==

* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain-specific_language Domain-specific language] @ Wikipedia.org 

[[Category:Computer programming]]
[[Category:Computer science]]
[[Category:Computing]]